IS PACIFISM ALWAYS ETHICAL?

A special conversation with Moshe Shner and Ted GrimsrudSeptember 30, 8:00 pm in the Common Grounds Coffee House

What if you had been a Jewish parent in Nazi Germany during WWII facing the prospect of the gas chambers not only for you and your children, but vast numbers of other innocent citizens? Is it ethical NOT to resist violently under certain circumstances?

Dr. Moshe Shner an Israeli philosopher has struggled to find answers to this question all his life. His parents were leaders of the famous â€œghetto fighters,â€ a small, but significant group of Jews who fought the Nazis during the days of the Holocaust. They survived, escaped to Palestine, and established the Ghetto Fighters Museum in Israel following statehood. Our EMU cross cultural students to the Middle East visit this museum every year. Dr. Shner regularly meets with these EMU students to share his story and the implications for ethical living in a violent world.

Dr. Ted Grimsrud, professor of Theology in the Bible and Religion Department, has just completed a major research and writing project on a Christian pacifist response to WWII, the war in which Mosheâ€™s parents struggled against the Nazis and for survival. He too has struggled to find answers to the question of the ethics of pacifism under all circumstances.

It is a distinct honor to have Moshe Shner as a guest of EMU on September 30. Shner and Grimsrud will meet for a public conversation of the question â€œIs Pacifism always Ethical?â€ advocating from two perspectives – Anabaptist and current Israeli, with everyoneâ€™s questions and participation welcome.

Co-sponsored by the Bible and Religion Department, and the Center for Interfaith Engagement